When Christmas Hurts: Finding Hope in the Darkest Season

By John E. Miller

What do you do when Christmas hurts?
When everyone else is celebrating and you're barely surviving. When the songs about joy feel like mockery. When you're sitting at a table with an empty chair, fighting to stay sober through another holiday season, or forcing a smile while dying inside.
This isn't a book about fixing yourself. It's a book about permission.
Permission to hurt during the season when the world demands joy. Permission to acknowledge the empty chair, the barren place, the crushing weight of depression that doesn't take a holiday. Permission to be honest about where you really are-even when everyone else seems fine.
Through ten powerful devotionals, Pastor John E. Miller shows how the Christmas story itself is filled with pain: Elizabeth's decades of barrenness and unanswered prayerMary's scandalous pregnancy and public shameThe "no room" of displacement and not belongingJesus born in literal darkness, to people working the night shiftThe Holy Family as refugees, everything familiar stripped awayRachel weeping-refusing to be comforted because her children are deadUnexpected visitors showing up in the messThe Magi's journey taking years longer than expectedSimeon waiting his entire life, wondering if relief would ever comeAnna's sixty years of widowhood, carrying permanent lossGod didn't wait for perfect circumstances to enter the world. He came into the darkness, the scandal, the grief, the displacement.
Drawing from his own 31 years of recovery and personal loss, Pastor John writes with raw honesty and pastoral compassion for those who are: Battling addiction during a season built around alcoholGrieving their first Christmas without someone they loveFighting depression while the world celebratesCarrying shame that overshadows any joyLiving with chronic pain or illness that won't healFeeling displaced, unwanted, or utterly aloneEach chapter includes: ✓ An honest opening story that names your pain ✓ Scripture from the Christmas narrative (NLT) ✓ Reflection that connects to your struggle ✓ A raw, honest prayer ✓ A gentle action step (not homework-just survival)
You don't have to have it all together. You don't have to be strong. You don't have to fake it.
Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room anywhere else. He meets you in yours.
Perfect for: Anyone struggling through the holidaysThose facing their first Christmas after lossPeople in recovery fighting seasonal triggersAnyone battling depression, grief, shame, or displacementPastors and counselors ministering to hurting peopleSmall groups seeking honest Advent materialIncludes resources for crisis support, addiction recovery, and grief counseling.
"Broken is welcome here. Always."
When Christmas hurts, you're not alone. And you're not failing. You're exactly the kind of person Jesus came for.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G58PXGZT
• ISBN13: 9798277225622
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"